From Mormon to Methodist and back again; Trail marker #2

Trail marker #2 Historically Fascinating

In the United States and more specifically, the west coast, it is a rare thing to enter a building that has been in use for more than 50 years. It is just not our culture to 1. Keep the building around that long, and 2. Our history in the west doesn't reach back very far. That may be why I am so very interested in old buildings, old photos, history etc. Surely both of our parents taught us to love, honor and respect history. Mom through her family history dating to the beginings of the restored gospel. Dad through his love of all things historical. It was no surprise to me that I was so taken in by the history of the First United Methodists Church. At the time it was built, there was nothing else around it. The city of Costa Mesa exited but it exited in the form of farms all around with just a few small stores where Triangle Square now sits and across the street. Harbor Blvd. sported a few stores as well.

The minister told us, at the time the church was being built, people scoffed at it as folly. It was too big. Who would come? In comparison, it is now considered a small church.

I always enjoy mixing the history of something specific, like the Methodist Church, with the general history of the day. Your understand of the general history becomes so much more personal and your bubble of understanding about the specific history becomes so much more alive when inegrated with the general history. When I consider what the church has seen in its 80 years of exitance, I gain a real sense of awe for the people of the past eras, their lives, their exitences, and find myself appreciating them for the efforts and sacrifices they made. I feel connected to the past when I can physically touch something that was touched by the people of that day.

One of the members who was quite, um aged, talked about the early days of the church. He said that had the builders of the church known what was coming, they may have considered not building the church. He said 1 year and a few months after the church was dedicated, the great stock market crash of '29 happened. He said it was way more devistating than what we would consider devistating today. Then on March 10, 1933 a big earthquake happened in Southern California that caused great damage all around Costa Mesa. The church had some cracks but nothing serious. The man recalling the events said we could draw our own conclusions on that. And finally, WWII broke out. Nearby the Santa Ana Army Base was established and sent men off to war. Neighbors and parishners went on food rations, victory gardens were grown, loved ones lost. Through it all, there was this church. It stood as a sanctuary each week for the people of the community to come and worship God.

I wonder how many families sat in the church and silently prayed for relief from the devistating stock market crash and the rippling effect it must have had. I wonder how many families and store owners walked up the center row, sat in a pew and prayed for guidence on how to rebuild after the earthquake. I wondered how many servicemen and servicemen's families sat in that chapel to look for heavenward for protection.

I sat in that chapel just as they did. I prayed in that chapel just as they did. I worshiped in that chapel just as they did. It was an honor.

Today when you look at the church you will notice two things. The first, many buildings around the area have the same architectural look as the church. As you can guess, because the church has been around for so long, it influenced the building styles of many of the buildings around it. The office buildings right next to the church that share a parking lot look like they were made for eachother. Triangle Square across the street has echoes of the same style. The Costa Mesa Courtyard shopping center also echos the same style. The second more subtle thing you will see when looking at the church, and not know you are seeing it, will be the remnants of other buildings that stood by this church. Next door use to be a school. It was built in the same style as the church. When the school district decided to sell the land, the church got permission to, "gleen," what they needed from the building before it was bulldozed. Members of the congregation climbed on the roof of the school and removed the red tile roof. The church had the same type of tile roof. The members knew at some point the tiles would have to be replaced. A reroofing project happened in the 60's as well as the 90's. Tiles that were broken or damaged were removed and replaced with tiles from the school. In the 50's a social security office stood where triangle square is now and when the government decided to move that office to another location, again the parishners were allowed to go in and remove what they needed for the benefit of the church. This time they took wiring, switches lighting etc.

The population of the church grew, or rather boomed, after the end of WWII. Families moved in to Costa Mesa and sought a place to worship. At one time the church offered baptism by emersion. There is infact a font under the floor between the front pew and the stage. It has been covered over now and they instead perform the sprinkle method. As a side note, they have estimated over 800 weddings have taken place in that chapel.

It is at this point that Tod's family becomes involved with the church. They moved into Costa Mesa in the 50's and began worshiping there. Tod's uncle Kern remembers each Sunday, Grandma Barbara would make pancakes for breakfast. No one was allowed to leave until they had finished their pancakes. Consequently, they were often late for church. It is comforting to know, family dynamics seems to stay the same no matter what age or time you grow up in. Melinda, Tod's mom, remembers attending Sunday School in the tower of the church. She says that the tower has small little classrooms. The older you were, the higher you got to go in the tower. She also participated in the choir. It was a big deal to be able to don the choir robes and sing on Sundays. She said when she was a girl, she had a Mormon friend who invited her to go to the Mormon church. The girls made an agreement that each would attend the other's church and see what was there. Melinda remembers the Mormon church as being very informal. There wasn't a lot that impressed her at the time. When it came time for her friend to attend the Methodist church, Melinda was very proud to show her friend that the pastor wore special robes, there were candles lit, people said formal prayers together, etc. etc. Funny that in her early 20's Melinda would end up leaving the Methodists to join the Mormons.

There is a lot of family history in that church. For that reason I took a picture of Tod, his mother and his grandmother in the chapel (It was allowed) because so much of what Tod's family is, had it's roots and beginings in this church. Personally, I believe that is one of the reasons Grandma Barbara does not convert to Mormonism. She, I believe, knows we Mormons have something. She won't delve too far though because It would require leaving the parish and people that are her church family.

Grandma Barbara has always been a faithful church attender. Each and every Sunday you will find her at church. If time or circumstances require her to be away from her own church, she will attend somewhere else. She will even go so far as to attend a church on Friday night if she know that she will be traveling on Sunday. The truth of the matter is, those occasions that she is away from her church are few and far between. She is a model of commitment.

The church as done a good job of preserving its past. It has a historical room where documents, books, photo albums, programs, pictures etc. are kept. One of my favorite items was an old wooden sign that stated the name of the church and the worship times. I loved it. I would love to display it in my home somewhere however the church didn't seem too keen to part with it.

Historically, this church is fascinating to me. It played a huge part in the lives of the members of the community as well as Tod's family.

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Keep watch for the next trail marker, "Lovingly endearing."